Acrobunch

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Overview

Acrobunch (魔境伝説アクロバンチ, Makyō Densetsu Akurobanchi, lit. "Acrobunch: The Legend of the Demon Lands") was an anime series aired in 1982. There were 24 episodes. It is also referred to as "Demon Region Legendary Acrobunch", "'Demon Regions Legend Acrobunch", "'Ruins Legend Acrobunch", "'Acrobanch".

Plot

Half-Japanese amateur inventor Tatsu-ya Lando talks his five almost all-American children into piloting his latest project, a transforming super-robot called Acrobunch. Older boys Hiro and Ryo pilot the two Buncher Hornets, while twin girls Miki and Rika ride the Buncher Arrow flying motorcycles. Middle-child Jun is the 15-year-old boy who gets to pilot the Acrobunch unit formed from the combination of all the vehicles with dad's Falcon Buncher main craft. Tatsuya is searching for the ancient treasure of Quaschika, which was the true inspiration behind the ancient stories of Atlantis. But Lando is not the only one-Emperor Delos of the undersea Goblin empire is also searching for the Quaschika, and the Acrobunch robot becomes the last line of defense between them and Earth. Each week, it must fight against the robots of the Goblin armies, one of which is led by Delos's own daughter, Queen Shiira, who develops a crush on her enemy Hiro.

Shunted around the schedules and between two different production studios, the troubled Acrobunch ("a robot controlled by a bunch of acrobats!") nevertheless served as a training ground for a group of new talents who would find fame in the decades to come. It was the first anime job for future Tekkaman-designer Rei Nakahara. Among the animators, Arai would work on City Hunter, Ochi would make Hikarian, and Takayama would become the director of the notorious Urotsukidoji series. Two decades later, Inomata produced similar character designs for Brain Powered.